Who: Steve Rogers and Veronica Mars-Rogers What: Meeting Mom When: Tuesday (backdated) Where: MCU Brooklyn 1936; The Rogers' Apartment Warnings: Emotions. A lot of them. Status: Partial gdoc TBC
Telling Veronica that he wanted to introduce her to his mom wasn’t something Steve had even thought about before this week. It hadn’t been something they could do. She’d died a long time before he’d even become who he was now, he’d made his peace with that. He did think a lot, though, about how she’d like the woman he’d married, how he thought Veronica would have liked her too. And after finding that the glimpse into another world that had shown up was back to his childhood home, complete with a barely adult him running around somewhere and his mother on her deathbed, there wasn’t much time if he was going to embrace it.
They’d had the talk about it, with Steve telling her how important it was to him that she come with him and bring Keith too, that it was pretty much a now or never kind of thing and it was a tribute to how well he’d picked that she hadn’t even needed him to finish, just placed the baby in his arms and told him to get him dressed while she found something to wear and got herself ready.
Once in Brooklyn, he led her through the streets without a guess of where he was going, more at home there than he was even in Madison Valley. Through the better part of the neighbourhood he’d grown up in and to the poorer part where his apartment was. He remembered where he was these days, knew he was out of the house and there was no risk of running into himself. Steve didn’t know if that would do any harm but he didn’t want to risk it.
“Watch your step,” he cautioned, leading Veronica up the rickety steps to the second floor of the building.
***
Despite the fact that this was going to be a brief opportunity to meet Steve’s mother, Veronica found herself nervous as she ascended the steps to his apartment. It was important to her to make a good impression on her mother-in-law, even if she’d never see the woman again after this.
She’d been careful to dress modestly, finding something that was suitable for the time period, and trying not to fuss too much with her stockings. When even was the last time she’d worn nylons? She couldn’t really remember.
A tiny part of her was also jealous. She’d love to introduce Steve to her father and introduce him to his namesake. Maybe the town would give them that chance at some point.
“Anything I should avoid talking about?” she asked.
***
With a ghost of a laugh, Steve paused to uncover the spare key, hidden beneath the same rock a few feet from the door as it always had been. “That’s a long list,” he admitted. There was so much his mother shouldn’t know about, but he wasn’t worried about any of that. She was going to die soon and take whatever she knew with her. “But I trust you not to say anything that’ll destroy history.”
Even if she did, he knew himself. He knew he’d brush off anything his mother said to him about it as her being so close to death, not pay it any mind. And he was the only one seeing her these days. He was her only family and would have been by her side every moment if he could have been.
Pausing only to check on the baby quickly and give Veronica a reassuring smile, he opened the door and showed her inside. The apartment was small, but tidy in its sparseness. They’d always tried to make it look nicer than it was, but a close enough look would see gaps in the flooring and holes in the walls, feel a draft from the windows that had never much helped with his health.
“Steve?” The voice from the back room was weak, tired, hoarse.
“Yeah, Ma,” Steve called back softly. There’d been no hiding who he was when he’d first come here and he didn’t want to try. “I brought you some company.” Gently he guided Veronica toward the kitchen table, which had always been a little unsteady but functional enough. “She’ll want to meet you here. Wouldn’t dream of meeting someone from bed even as sick as she is.”
***
Veronica nodded, shifting the baby in her arms to get him more comfortable. “Should I put on the kettle?” she asked, spying it sitting on top of the stove. The apartment might be a bit run down, but it had a cozy feeling that made her feel a little homesick. It reminded her in some ways of the place she and Keith shared after Lianne left them and Lilly died.
The last thing she wanted to do was offend Steve’s mother by doing something nice, but she also didn’t want the woman to feel like she needed to play hostess when she wasn’t feeling well. Seeing her like this, knowing that there was nothing he could do to prevent the inevitable, had to be hard on Steve, though she knew that he would never let it show. If she could do anything to make this easier on him, she would.
***
“Just make yourself comfortable.” She was still only a couple of months out of having a baby and Steve tended not to let her do anything she didn’t need to. But he knew better than to make that the reason why, chose another truth to explain the refusal. “The stove’s a bit tricky.”
Besides, he wasn’t entirely sure if there was even anything in the house to make. He knew he hadn’t exactly been worried about groceries around now, had barely remembered to eat at al without being constantly reminded. Watching the only real family he had fade away had taken a toll then and it wasn’t any easier now save for knowing he wasn’t being left on his own when she died. He had the family he’d made for himself.
“Hold tight for a minute.” He left it at that before disappearing into one of the back rooms with a gentle knock. He trusted Veronica to her own devices, didn’t mind if she wanted to look around while he worried about getting his mother as comfortably on her feet as she could be, while he argued with her about not needing to be dressed to the nines or anything, that the company he’d brought didn’t care and wouldn’t judge. Explained that he just wanted her to meet someone. He’d never put up a real fight with her, she’d taught him everything about how important it was to keep fighting and to not let anyone or anything keep him down for good.
She was more stubborn than he was.
He did manage to talk her down to something simple, helped her with buttons and with getting her hair into a simple style, Steve had never learned to do hair the way Bucky had done for his sisters, and getting shoes on her feet before leading her out on his arm.
Sarah Rogers was now dwarfed by her son, slim and pale and obviously exhausted, obviously leaning more weight on Steve than on her own feet. She hesitated slightly seeing the woman and the baby, until Steve quietly reassured her it was okay, they couldn’t catch the disease that was taking her, and ushered her forward.
“Veronica, Sarah Rogers,” he introduced with a broad smile. “Ma, this is Veronica. My wife. And our son, Keith.”
“Your wife,” Sarah repeated, her illness not dampening her smile, a bit of old country still in her accent. “It’s wonderful to meet you, Veronica.”
***
Rather than snooping, Veronica spent the time while Steve was helping his mother by entertaining the baby. Or trying to. He was still at a fairly boring age and she wasn’t entire sure if his smiles were genuine or just gas. It didn’t really matter either way though and she mostly just kept up a soft stream of chatter in an effort to stave off her nerves.
She had to swallow hard to hold back tears when Steve and his mother entered the room. Anyone would look small and weak next to Steve, but it was hard to see just how frail and sickly his mother was and she couldn’t imagine where he was finding the strength to do this.
“It’s wonderful to meet you too, Mrs. Rogers,” she said, standing up and turning Keith around so she could see him. “Steve’s told me so much about you. And I don’t know how to thank you for raising such an amazing son.”
***
With an amused shake of his head, Steve helped his mother to sit at the table before releasing her. Not an easy thing to do, a little worried she didn’t have the strength after all, that she’d just topple over and meeting one of the most important people in Steve’s life wouldn’t happen after all. But she stayed upright, despite it being obviously difficult for her, and he left her side to hold out a chair for his wife to sit again too.
“The way I’ve heard it he’s gone and done more than his fair share of stupid.” Sarah was obviously the source of her son’s dryer humour, her eyes sparkling with amusement. “I expect I should be the one thanking you for agreeing to put up with him.”
Steve didn’t even chastise her, just quietly took his own seat once Veronica was settled.